Though McGill College did not formally become McGill University until 1885, the McGill University Society was first established in 1857, two years after the arrival of Principal John William Dawson.
By 1876, the group had renamed itself the Graduates’ Society of McGill University, and rewritten its constitution, with a mission to “bind the graduates more closely to each other and to their Alma Mater.” The Society soon established a library endowment fund, while also lobbying for additional staff and better facilities. Today, the Society is known as the McGill Alumni Association and boasts a network of more than 275,000 alumni in more than 180 countries around the world.